Choosing the Best Ghostwriter for Your Story

00:20 - Lynn (Host)

Hi, friends and future authors, this is Lynn, a Liquidy Smart just here for another episode of Publishing for Professionals. I'm so excited to be back because today we're talking about one of my favorite things using a ghostwriter to write your memoir. And that's not just because I am a ghostwriter, it's because I absolutely love writing memoirs. Memoirs are so cool because it's my clients leaving a legacy of themselves for forever, which is one of the coolest things you can do. So let's, before we jump into it today, I like to say that I've had the privilege of working with two different clients to write their memoirs just this year, and I'm very excited about it. I really love writing memoirs and I really love assisting my clients with the pain point of writing memoirs, because, yes, it's about you. Clients with the pain point of writing memoirs because, yes, it's about you, and, honestly, that's the hardest thing to write about. Writing about your vertical, writing about what you're an expert in, is much easier than writing about yourself, right, and like what stories should you add in? What stories should you not add in? I get this all the time from my memoir clients, so I would love to help you with your memoir writing journeys, so make sure to hop over to writeforyoume and book a discovery call today to find out more about how I can help you with your memoir writing journey.

01:31

Okay, so let's jump into today's topic. Welcome to Publishing for Professionals and, if you are new, thank you for joining me and I hope you hit that subscribe button. If you are not new, thanks for bringing coming back again for another episode of Publishing for Professionals. This is a weekly podcast to help thought leaders and other professionals write and publish their book. So today's focus is to be on how to successfully collaborate with a ghostwriter to create an authentic, compelling memoir, because your story deserves to be told, but told well, and a good ghostwriter can assist you in it without years and years of struggle to write it. I mean, I've heard of people spending eight to 10 years on their memoir and never finishing it right, like, you don't want to be that person. You want to be the person who writes the memoir, whether it's you're going to publish it for professional use or you just want to write a memoir to hand to your grandkids right, either one. You don't want to spend eight to 10 years doing it right. You want to get it done within 12 to 18 months and that is a good timeframe for any memoir 12 to 18 months because memoirs are a little bit harder to write than typical, than technical books and or anything that's like a thought leadership book, because writing about a topic is much easier than writing a memoir. All right, so the memoir process from selection to publication we're going to go through that today and why most published memoirs can involve ghostwriters because it's a professional standard, it is not a shortcut, say, by the end of this episode, you'll understand how to preserve your voice while leveraging professional expertise of a ghostwriter to write your book. So the first topic we're going to talk about today is why memoirs benefit from ghostwriting collaborations.

03:10

So, the unique challenges of writing your own memoir right, it's emotional proximity to your own story, which is huge. I mean, I know that's always an issue for me because I'm so emotionally involved in my own story. I don't get the basics and I'll have friends read my bio and be like, but you do this and you do this and I'm like, oh my gosh, I do. I didn't think about that because I was so emotionally embroiled in writing my own even just my own bio, and there's difficulty identifying, right, what's interesting versus what's important to you. Okay, these are two totally different things and I help my clients identify this all the time.

03:40

The curse of knowledge assuming readers know context. They don't, and this is common across every one of my clients, not just my memoir clients. Right, and our brain is really good at filling in those pieces. So it's not you, there's nothing wrong with you. That's how our brain processes information, right? So if you're reading or writing something, your brain's automatically filling in that information for you, but you don't always type it on the page. Brain's automatically filling in that information for you, but you don't always type it on the page. So that's where having a ghostwriter assist you to fill in those blank spots is super helpful.

04:17

Okay, so, all right, balancing vulnerability with privacy and that's really important, because I always, always, always have my clients ask me Lynn, what should I put the story in? Okay, and that relies on many different variables and I ask my clients a lot of questions and then I give them my professional advice. Now, whether they want to put that story in or not is their decision on the final end, but I always give them my professional advice on if they should put that story in. Maybe this isn't the right spot in your book, right, maybe it's a great story, but we should put it in another spot. So there's lots of different considerations.

04:45

When you're talking about your personal life stories, okay, and also the time commitment, right. So we never know when we are going to leave this earth you want to make sure that you do it sooner than later, because if you keep putting it off, right, it may never get done. So a story is I have someone I know they wanted to record their mom's history, but I said, well, want to do it sooner than later. And they're like, oh, I think she'll feel better, like in a few months, and she passed. So they never got her story recorded. So it's really important to get those important family stories, especially if you're writing a family story memoir, okay, now, not later, because you just don't know and you want to get those stories and now they're lost forever, which is really sad.

05:29

Okay, so a memoir ghostwriter okay, can give you objective perspectives on your story's most compelling elements and on the non-compelling elements as well. Professional storytelling, structure and pacing, which is what I assist my clients with a lot, and I also can help you with identifying themes. You may not see yourself right, and because I'm the outside looking in and you're in it, in the emotionally broiled spot, and that's really really common. Okay, so I can identify lots of things that my clients don't see, especially when they're writing memoirs. And I can also do interviews. Okay, so I can interview my interviews. Okay, so I can interview my clients and extract, you know, maybe, memories they've forgotten about or get the more details on memories that they have, which is really great for engaging your people who are reading your book. All right, collaboration creates something neither person can produce on their own, because we know two heads are generally better than one. Of course, that's if your ghostwriter is professional and works well with you. I really do my best to make sure that my clients always know what I'm doing for them and we are always on the same page.

06:40

Your authentic brand is really important, okay, so make sure that your ghostwriter is writing in your authentic voice, okay, and that the storytelling expertise and craft is there and that your ghostwriter is encouraging you to write stories. Any ghostwriter that's telling you not to write any stories, you should definitely not go with that ghostwriter. Okay, because stories are what makes any book not just a memoir, but even thought leadership books. Stories are really great in them. I've done another episode on storytelling when you're writing your thought leadership book, so make sure to check that out. All right, the combined result is going to be a memoir that's both true and compelling and beautiful, and also emotionally connects with your readers. Okay, so some common concerns I typically get questions for from people, prospects and clients are will it still sound like me? So, yes, your book will still sound like you if you use a good ghostwriter who can capture your voice. Okay, can someone else write my story? Yes, is it dishonest? No, it is not Right.

07:40

So I compare ghostwriting to like what happens to your HVAC system, like breaks down in your house, right, and you have somebody come in and service your HVAC. Is that you know? Is that a lie? Are you? Is it not your house anymore because someone's coming in and done that service for your HVAC? No, it's just something, a service you couldn't do for yourself, so you hire someone else to do it. That's exactly what ghostwriting is. Ghostwriting is a service like any other service you would get for your house, such as a plumber, an electrician, an HVAC person. It's something you can't or don't have time to do yourself, but you need the assistance, right? So it's not dishonest to have somebody else write your book, because it's still your book and you are publishing it under your name, right? So if you have a ghostwriter write it, you're not publishing it under the ghostwriter's name, you're publishing it under your name, so that puts the responsibility on you. So it is your book, don't make any doubts about that. It is definitely your book.

08:32

All right, so there's certain types of memoirs that benefit the most from ghostwriting. Of course, any memoir would benefit because you have a professional person on your side coaching you along the way. But executive memoirs, business life stories, overcoming adversity narratives is another good one to use a ghostwriter for. Industry insider stories, legacy memories for family and organizations and advocacy memoirs tied to causes. These are all the top reasons why you want to hire a ghostwriter to write that memoir for you.

09:06

All right, let's get into the next space, which is finding the right memoir ghostwriter. All right. So a good ghostwriter to write your memoir should be empathetic, they should have emotional intelligence, they should be able to interview you and have good listening skills. Okay, if your ghostwriter is constantly cutting you off in the discovery call, then definitely do not go with that ghostwriter, right, you need somebody who's going to listen and be empathetic and who's not going to be judgmental, okay. So giving you constructive criticism is perfectly fine and a ghostwriter's job, but they should not be critical of you as far as like putting down your book and or being very negative. Right, that's not a good professional ghostwriter, all right. So they should have the ability to capture your voice and personality and understand the memoir structure and how to pace it right.

09:53

And then also discretion and trustworthiness with sensitive information. So if you need to get them to sign an NDA and they're balking on it, go with another ghostwriter. I have no problems signing NDAs for my clients because I know how important that trust piece is with clients. And as far as not divulging information out, you know when you're writing the book and or after and again. And lastly but not leastly, chemistry and personality clicking. That is one of the most important things you want to do with your ghostwriter. If your personalities do not click, do not go with that person, no matter how professional they are, because that person is going to be your best friend for the next year. Writing your book and writing a book can be stressful and if your personalities don't click. You're going to end up arguing with each other, so definitely make sure you click with the person that you found that's a ghostwriter for your memoir.

10:41

Okay, so let's go into the interview process, right? So some key questions you want to ask your potential ghostwriters is have you written a memoir? What is your process for capturing somebody's voice? How do you handle sensitive or difficult topics? Can you share examples of memoirs you worked on? Okay, now, not all ghostwriters will be able to do that.

11:00

I will tell you this. That's one of the challenges of being a ghostwriter. Because I signed an NDA, which is a non-disclosure agreement with clients. I am not allowed to say I've written their book, right. I can say I edited their book, I can say I worked on their book with them, but I may not say that I have authored their book or have written their book specifically, because if I say that, then that breaks my NDA, right? So I only have a few books on my portfolio and I explain to my clients that, and the reason I only have a few books is because I have an NDA, so I'm legally not allowed to show my other books that I have written for.

11:31

All, right, let's see. Can you share examples of memoirs and how do you structure the collaboration? So like, when are you going to meet? Where is it going to be? I put all my information on Google Drive. It's really easy. Everybody just shares the same documents and it's organized really well. I also give my clients templates for their front matter and their back matter, which is things like the prologue if they're going to write one, the introduction, the title page, the copyright page, so all those things I have templates for, so my clients don't have to create all of that content on their own and it has key questions to ask them, so they make sure that their content is very structured and it makes sense and it flows really well, because that's really important.

12:10

All right, so some red flags to watch out for. If you are, um, hiring a ghostwriter and again from another episode I talked about, when you hire a ghostwriter, if you think it's a good person but you're not sure, hire them for a chapter, right To write a chapter of your book and see that's a smaller investment. See if they'll go for that, if they won't find another ghostwriter that will, because you want to make sure that this person's going to click and work with you well, and if they don't, then you've only invested a chapter and you can find another ghostwriter, so you haven't made a huge investment, all right. So red flags, ghostwriters who dominate the conversation Okay Again, if they're interrupting you all the time and or they're just telling you what to do all the time, or they're telling you should do this, you should do that, you should do this not a good ghostwriter. Don't go with them. Lack of empathy, or they're not actively listening to your needs, or they're listening, but then they're telling you to do something completely different you don't want to do. That's not a good ghostwriter.

13:06

Now I will give my clients advice, right, and it might go against what they want to do, but I will say have you considered this? And I will tell them why. Now, if it's up to my client completely whether they agree with my decision or not, if they don't, I client completely whether they agree with my decision or not. If they don't, I'll do what they want. But then I'll just let them know if we do this. This could be a possibility to happen, just so they know. But it is my client's responsibility and it is their decision last. Okay. So that's how I deal with my ghostwriting clients and I work with my ghostwriting clients All right, if they're not able to articulate their process clearly.

13:36

That's a huge red flag, right? Don't go with a person who can't articulate their process clearly, because if they can't tell you how they ghostwrite, then how are they going to help you ghostwrite your book? All right, if they don't have any writing experience. One of the things I always say is that hire a ghostwriter who has published a book themselves, right, like I have four books that I've published and I'm working on two more. I would never hire a ghostwriter who has not published their own book because they don't know the process and they don't understand what you need to do. So that's super important when you're hiring a ghostwriter. If they're unwilling to provide references or samples or portfolio work. Definitely not a good ghostwriter. I mean, even if the ghostwriter is new, they can give you work that they've done. Right, like I have four books I've written personally that are also on my portfolio, so those are shown, and also some clients' books are shown that I've worked on, and I can always do a sample to a sample edit or a sample ghostwrite of 500 to 1,000 words, but I don't do chapters because that's too much to ask for a person to write and you should be paying somebody for that much work anyway, all right. So the reason why getting back to why it's important to click with a person's personality is because you're going to be sharing a lot of intimate details with them. Okay, you need to really build trust with them and it is long haul, close working relationship, so you want to make sure that it's super important and that you are getting along with them. Okay.

14:59

So a typical range for ghostwriting starts at 30 grand for a full memoir. I do not charge that much. I charge half of that price. So I know I come in at a lower price than other people to write memoirs. Factors affecting price are the experience, the complexity and the timeline. I just don't charge 30 to 150,000 for a memoir because that's not who I am. But if somebody wants a very intricate memoir that has a lot of pictures in it, I can charge more for it because that's going to be more work. So it just depends on the thing. But typically I don't charge as much as other memoir writers do. I just love writing memoirs. Okay.

15:36

So you can do payment structures. Some offer payment plans. I do payment plans and month and or monthly retainers, depending on what works for my clients and what you know. Find out what's included interview writing, revision. So for my ghostwriting package I do all the ghostwriting and then I also do the developmental and line editing with my clients. So when they have their rough draft done, they just need a copy and proofread editor and I can recommend one to my clients who can just clean up the grammar and some of the punctuation.

16:09

Okay, and then what is extra? Okay, so typically any research, travel or expedited timelines are extra. So if I were to write a memoir where I had to travel or had to do a lot of research for then that would definitely be more than my 15 grand, because that is going to be an extra expense that I have to add on to it, right? So all those things would be an extra expense which would bring the price up. Now, 15 grand is not a flat price I rate for memoirs. It just depends on how long it is and there's a lot of other details. So if you're interested in finding out more about me writing your memoir, go to write for you, dot me, click on discovery call and book a 15 minute call for your first step and us chatting together to see if we're a good personality fit. Ok, so we're going to pause right here, my friends, but when we come back we are going to talk more about how to use a ghostwriter to write your memoir and what to look for in a ghostwriter writing your memoir.

17:18

r the future ones going on in: 2026

18:02

Okay, so phase one is your discovery and voice development. So your initial deep dive interview about your life. If you have that, maybe you have written something about your life, okay. So, going through the timeline of your childhood, your formative experiences, major life events, career trajectory, right, any significant decisions you had to make in your life as far as relationships, challenges, maybe you have some triumphs and recording these sessions, okay, versus just note-taking. Now, you can do note-taking right, but it's much, much easier and I always recommend to my clients record them on your phone or record them on a podcast, like microphone right, like a good quality microphone, and then use a transcription. That's really a great way to do this because it eliminates guessing and it also eliminates the need for like, oh, did I get all the right notes? Okay, so you have them all in your transcript. Okay, because it's much easier to have extra content and take it out rather than not have enough content. Okay.

19:08

So let's go on to the next piece, which is gathering existing materials. So if you have photos, journals, letters, documents, anything you want to capture, make sure you scan them in a high quality scan. Okay, and you want to arrange them by chapter folders? So chapter one, two, three. So chapter one put all the images and documents you're going to put in there in a chapter one folder, chapter two, do the same thing, and you want to make sure they are numbered. And then you want to make sure that you know where you're going to put them in your book eventually, right, so you don't have to do that now in the beginning, but you want to at least make sure you have all these things scanned Now.

19:36

I always often get the question from my clients what type of pictures or images should I put in? So what I tell them is if you feel like you want to put it in, definitely get it scanned, because it's better to have more images than not enough and be scrambling last minute for that picture you can't find. Okay, so make sure that you have all of the things you want, even if you're not sure if you want it. If you think you want it, just get it scanned, because scanning going to like Staples or Office Depot or wherever and getting a high quality scan is really inexpensive. And then, voice capture exercises style development, okay. So what is your book style going to look like?

20:09

Identifying your memoir's core theme and messages is really important from the very, very beginning, before you start writing. Okay, I have a book focus template that I give my clients every one of my clients that they can fill out. So not only are they clear on what they're writing, but I am also clear on how to assist them in their writing development. All right, now structure and outline this is really important. Okay, so you can do a thematic organization which is organizing your life by themes. But most people do a timeline, right? So, like they start out as a little kid, they're going through their life and that's what they do, and so that's typically what my clients do. Now, does everybody start when they're a little kid? No, and you don't have to. You can start when you're a teenager, like my one client did and then went up through his adulthood. But he, so you can do that. There's many places you can start. You can even start as a young adult or as an older adult, right? So it just depends on what your theme is, what you're trying to get across to your reader, on where you're going to start.

21:05

Okay, so you want to make detailed chapter outlines after you get the basic outline together, identify any gaps that might need additional interviews and or additional content, and then, of course, setting milestones and timelines so you know when the work is going to be finished and when it can be expected to be done. All right, you also need to agree on what type of narrative voice and tone you want to use. Okay, the next phase you're going to do is writing an iterative review. So the ghostwriter is going to start drafting chapters, okay, and then you need a feedback process. So what is the feedback process? For?

21:39

Checking accuracy, authenticity, flagging voice inconsistencies, adding forgotten details, context, adjusting tone and emphasis okay, and make sure you have regular check-in meetings to maintain alignment. I recently talked with somebody who said she hired an editor and the editor said you can only contact me once a week. That's absolutely ridiculous, although obviously you don't want to hound your ghostwriter editor, right. But if you have a question and you have two questions in a week, that's perfectly fine to email your ghostwriter or text them. However, they prefer you to contact them, right. So make sure you have a contact method, whether that's email or chat and or like if you're working like on a Trello board or something like that and or text messaging, right. So whatever they're comfortable with, make sure you have a chat method to ask them questions.

22:24

All right, addressing any difficult or sensitive information or sections together as a team and make sure you balance revelation with privacy. Okay, addressing any difficult or sensitive information or sections together as a team, and make sure you balance revelation with privacy, okay, so there's certain things that are good to reveal, but there are also certain things that you should keep private. Right, you should not tell every story in your life, and I always tell my clients that it has to be related to your story and it has to mean something. Okay, it has to give some kind of lesson and it has to relate. That lesson has to relate to what you're talking about, okay, so don't just tell random stories just because they're funny. Okay, all right. So make sure you have your legal and fact-checking considerations in place.

23:00

And what emotional aspects of revisiting difficult memories are you going to do? So? If you have a lot of difficult memories, if there's trauma involved in your life, like I do mine and you're writing about it, what are you going to do to? Like, maybe you have to take a break more often to writing your memoir when those sections come up? I know I do, because writing about your personal trauma, it's very healing, but it also brings up a lot of like emotions you may not have processed yet, right, because a lot of times we don't realize that there's emotions, we have a process about grief or trauma or name it, and you fill in the blank, so, um. So make sure you have those breaks put in place.

23:34

If you are writing a book that has some emotionally draining pieces in it Okay, that's normal and you want to do that You're better off taking a little more time to write your book and add in those breaks, not like a month or two. I'm talking about like you're looking at your draft and then take a day or two break, maybe three days break, and then come back to it. All right, but make sure you're also communicating that with your ghostwriter clearly in the entire time. Okay, so say, hey, this is a difficult part for me, I'm going to need three days to revise this. If I need more, I will let you know. Okay, so just keep open communication with your ghostwriter and your ghostwriter should be empathetic and should be okay with that, right? If they're not okay with it, then you probably need to find another ghostwriter to write your book.

24:14

Okay, so revision and refinement. So comprehensive manuscript review, where you go over and back and forth on your manuscript to look at coherence and flow. Right. You want to strengthen those weak sections that don't sound as good, and cutting redundancies and tightening up the. You know the content and the process where you need to right. Not if you don't need to, then don't do it, but a lot of times there are redundancies in memoirs, so you want to.

24:39

If you repeat something once or twice, not a big deal, but once it gets to three or four times, you don't want to do that. Right? That just sounds like you're just rehashing old memories and there's no point to rehashing an old memory three and four times. Now referencing back to like oh yeah, and that car accident I had 10 years ago, that's fine. But you don't have to rehash the whole memory. Okay, just to give readers a little bit of context is fine, all right.

25:01

So you want a final accuracy verification. Make sure you have sensitivity reads for potentially controversial content. If that applies to your memoir, okay. And if you need to obviously hire a lawyer, I always recommend Gordon Firemark, he's fabulous. There's also specifically literary lawyers you can hire if you need to do that. And then ongoing communication is so important during this whole process, my friend, okay. So make sure you have regular meetings. You don't just want to have ad hoc check-ins because those are not going to be consistent. So, once you meet with your ghostwriter, before you get off the meeting with them on Zoom or video or phone or wherever you're meeting with them, make sure you have a time for your next meeting before you get off of that meeting. That's super important. I always make sure I have one with my clients before I hop off the meeting. All right, know how much of your time is required and how much you need to respond to questions, clarifications and providing additional materials as needed OK.

25:53

Protecting your story and ensuring authenticity OK. So you may need legal and contractual protections. Work for higher agreements, non-disclosure, credit and attribution. Are you going to, if you hire this ghostwriter, will you? Will you or will you not acknowledge them? Are you going to acknowledge them as a co-author? Not at all as an editor. What is your consideration for that? Approval rights, exclusivity clauses protecting your story from unauthorized use is really important. However, anytime you write and publish a book, it's automatically copyrighted, so it is protected as soon as you write it, like, even if it's in Google Docs.

26:27

Okay, but if you need extra protection, you might want to talk to a lawyer about that? Okay, if the relationship doesn't work, what are the termination provisions with your ghostwriter? Like, how can you get out of that ghostwriting contract? Can you get out of it, right? Will you have to pay the full amount anyway? So make sure you know those things before you jump into the full relationship and contract. Okay, again, make sure your ghostwriters maintain your voice authenticity. So regularly check your voice throughout the process. Ask yourself would I actually say this If not, tell your ghostwriter so they can rewrite it for you, so they can preserve your unique expressions and balance that readability and authenticity.

27:06

If they're having a hard time handling sensitive and difficult content, you might need to hire an additional person to handle that and or get a different ghostwriter altogether, because you have to know what to include, what to protect, and having difficult conversations with anyone involved that needs to is really important. Another thing you want to take into consideration, my friends, is if you're using someone's story, do you want to use their real name, okay, or do you not want to use a real name? Or? You know there's lots of other aspects on that that, depending on your specific situations, you can use it or not use it. So I always talk to that about, with that, about that with my clients, all right. So quality control throughout, okay.

27:49

Fact-checking fact-checking is super important. Now, if you make a tiny mistake here and there, no big deal, but you shouldn't have something like 10 years off or five years off. Okay. So fact-check dates, events and activities with the people, other people you've done it with, just to make sure you're getting it right. If you're not sure, verifying quotes, conversations and consistency in your timeline is always really important.

28:10

You can get beta readers for an external perspective if that's something you want to do, but it's not a requirement, obviously, for any book, including a memoir, but that's always a good idea. I would get beta readers who I know I would not just put out like a general call. Like, for instance, I'm putting out a general call for beta readers for my romance book, but it's a romance book, so I'm not worried about it. People like you know finding out information about me because it's fiction. But if you're putting out a memoir and you have sensitive information in there, you definitely want your beta readers as someone you can trust, right. So three or four good beta readers that you can trust is better than having 12 that you can't trust half of them. So keep that in mind if you're looking for beta readers for your memoir, all right.

28:47

So let's recap and wrap this up. So, memoir ghostwriting it's a collaborative art, right. It honors your story and leverages your professional craft. If that's what you're using it for, it does not have to leverage your professional craft. It can just be a story like your book that honors your story, right, writing your memoir, and the result is a memoir that's authentically you and professionally compelling if you have a good ghostwriter. So remember, start creating your memory bank.

29:09

List your major life events on a timeline your turning points, themes, ups and downs, challenges. You know what did you overcome? Okay, research three to five memoir ghostwriters. I am definitely in that pool. If you'd like to research me, please grab a discovery call on my website, wwwwriteforyoume Budget realistically for timeline and financial commitment. Again, I offer payment plans to all my clients so they can fit the professional services in their budget.

29:39

Okay, so, okay. So make sure that you know all of these things so that you are actively engaging in interviewing your ghostwriter and asking them all the right questions so you get a good ghostwriter the first time that you don't have to let go. It's really important to do your footwork ahead of time, my friends, and if you're uncomfortable with somebody at all, do not use them, okay. So make sure it's a good fit. All right, my friends, I hope this has been super helpful on how to find a ghostwriter for your memoir. And, just to remind you, I obviously can help you write your memoir. Would love to do that. Love to help my clients write their memoir. All right, until next week. This is Lynn Aliquity, reminding you to keep writing, keep dreaming and keep creating. Your book is waiting to be born.